Upcoming Events 📅
The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee began in 2020 with the mission of helping essential workers organize in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we’ve continued to grow, helping hundreds of workers across the country fight and win demands in their workplaces. And as life after the pandemic increasingly begins to feel real, we will keep fighting for workplace safety, for a living wage, and for dignity and respect for all.
We have a lot of work still ahead of us, but we also have a lot to celebrate from our first year. This Sunday, June 3, at 7 p.m. ET, EWOC will be throwing our first virtual fundraising event. The event will be hosted by Jabari Brisport and Zohran Mamdani and will feature appearances from comedians John Early, Kenice Mobley, Jake Flores, Ellen Harold, and Morgan Kemp. We will also have a special performance by Sing In Solidarity and an interview with an EWOC worker organizer, conducted by musician and filmmaker Boots Riley. Tickets come with special Unions Are Cool t-shirts and hats, and all proceeds will go directly to providing support for workers organizing their workplaces.
Buy your tickets here today, and always remember, Unions Are Cool.
The World of Work 🌍
CA: Dockworkers in Oakland successfully prevented an Israeli-owned vessel from unloading its cargo last Friday, an action taken in solidarity with Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah. In a statement signed by 10 chapters of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the workers condemned the ongoing violence against Palestinians and declared their intention to stand against racism and injustice. The action follows similar strikes by dockworkers in Italy and South Africa.
NY: A bill that would allow Uber and Lyft drivers to be represented by a union without making them full employees was dropped this week, meaning that it will not be made into law this year. The proposed bill, which would have severely limited workers’ ability to collectively bargain, was sponsored by Uber and Lyft and opposed by several labor groups, including the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, who held a rally opposing the bill in Albany this past Monday. Although the fight is far from over, this is a major victory for gig workers and organizers in New York. In the words of Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Workers Justice Project, “The death of this bill represents the power that delivery workers have.”
From Our Blog 🗣
Our own Sam Fleischman and Wen Zhuang interviewed Jane McAlevey for Jacobin, discussing the recent Amazon loss in Bessemer, what the future of labor organizing depends on, and how organizers can fight and win. Read the full interview here.
